Communication networks are well known in the computer communications field. By definition, a network is a group of computers and associated devices that are connected by communications facilities or links. Network communications can be of a permanent nature, such as via cables, or can be of a temporary nature, such as connections made through telephone or wireless links. Networks may vary in size, from a local area network (“LAN”), consisting of a few computers or workstations and related devices, to a wide area network (“WAN”), which interconnects computers and LANs that are geographically dispersed, to a remote access service, which interconnects remote computers via temporary communication links. An internetwork, in turn, is the joining of multiple computer networks, both similar and dissimilar, by means of gateways or routers that facilitate data transfer and conversion from various networks. A well-known abbreviation for the term internetwork is “internet.” As currently understood, the capitalized term “Internet” refers to the collection of networks and routers that use the Internet Protocol (“IP”), along with higher-level protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (“TCP”) or the Uniform Datagram Packet (“UDP”) protocol, to communicate with one another.
“Organizations” pursuing cost reductions and productivity increases continue to become more fluid and decentralized with multiple lines of authority and low head counts. The structure of these organizations is complex, changing and can include third parties as well as long-standing and ad-hoc teams, projects and processes.
The result of this trend is a lack of visibility, coordination and control that leads to reduced organizational performance, wasted time and money, lost revenue, burnout and turnover. This problem is recognized, existing, strong and growing.
Technical applications that address this problem available in the market, such as personal task lists, project management, Business performance management (“BPM”) and collaboration tools, are only partial solutions to the market problem. Current applications are positioned at the edges and cannot provide overall visibility, coordination or control.